Spring Break has not been productive, at least not as productive as I was hoping. I’ve done pretty much no homework. Honestly, school seems like a dream. Tonight and tomorrow though, I will have to do some work before I head back on Sunday. But I really don’t have any motivation to do so. I did however, observe in a school yesterday morning. First grade. It was great. It reminded me why I want to be a teacher. Past all the red tape, and the political correctness, and all my notions, there’s teaching. That’s why I chose this major and this career: to help children.

Am I an introvert? I think I’ve come to the conclusion that I need quiet time. And by that I mean time for my mind to be quiet–no computer shining in my eyes, no worries pressing on me. Just me and something simple (prayer, doing dishes). There comes a point when I’m sick of all the noise. And I just want to get away from it and recharge. But does that make me an introvert? Or just an extrovert who like, everyone, need quiet time? Maybe I’m just somewhere in between. Regardless of how I label it though, I appreciate that I’ve done at least one thing productive this week and made this realization. It’s important for me to recharge and how I do that is in the quiet.

That being said, the travel bug is back. I have an adventurous streak which I’m just learning to recognize. Particularly, I want to travel. I have for years. When I realized I couldn’t study abroad I thought I’d set that dream aside for now or at least put it in the back of my mind. But then I was reminded why I want to go recently, and so yeah, it’s back, or I guess it never went away. I realize that I won’t be going abroad any time soon, but someday I hope to.

The fact that I liked the King and I at age 12 should have given me a hint about a lot of things actually. The movie was one I enjoyed when I was younger. It was one of my first experiences with musicals. I found a cassette (yes a cassette) of the soundtrack first and listened to it on repeat. It maybe wasn’t my favorite, but I liked it. The themes that connect to my own life I noticed later. First, there’s the travel and adventure part of it: a proper English woman moves to a foreign country where she knows no one to start a new chapter in her life. Sound like an adventurous streak? Then there’s the fact that she’s a teacher. Because, well, I’m going to be a teacher, she was a teacher. Also, Anna loved her students. That’s why she stayed (twice!), because she loved those kids. Last, Anna, though a softy, was also a woman with determination or perhaps stubbornness. That another thing I can see in myself.

Lent! It’s been almost 10 days since Ash Wednesday. I’ve broken at least one of my lenten resolutions so far, maybe two. And the third is one I would have to set out to break. I have been home for most of Lent though. My days flow differently at home. We’ll see what happens when I get back to school next week.

Reading. I finished Insurgent yesterday. And of course, it ended on a cliffhanger. I’ve got a number of things on my reading list beside Allegiant too. I came by a copy of Four Signs of the Dynamic Catholic the other day. And I have Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey to reread. I could also borrow a copy of Tale of Two Cities from my mom’s library to reread. Still, I kind of want to read something new and exciting. I may add all these great books on Christianity and life alongside the classics on my list of books I want to read. But in the end I have a soft spot for the popular, contemporary, dystopian, fight-the-evil-government YA books. At least right now. …said the English literature minor. 😛